Rocent
by timan
Summary: Sequel to Ascent. The Powers are on the verge of cival war, The First has Harbinger, The humans are making their move against the slayers. Can the lost power Rocent be found in time to quell the chaos or will all fall to the original evil?
1. End of one is the beginning of another

_The end of one is the beginning of another…_

_What is lost is not lost forever…_

The world smelt of death and decay. Across the lands of this infant world, the bodies of the naïve were piled and burned. It was a price that was paid, a great evil performed in the name of good. From her vantage at the top of a hill a woman of golden hair and amber eyes kept her vigil, her white aura obscuring the setting sun. Rocent watched, in disgust, the vile parade as the living dragged the dead. She was joined by another, The Power not needing to guess who.

"Was it truly worth it?" Rocent asked

"They are a people at peace." Aurora replied

Rocent detested her statement

"And what of Harbinger? What now is his role to play?"

Aurora lifted her head in pride "He is their protector."

Rocent deliver a sharp look to her fellow Power That Be.

"One human, in all this world?" She asked

"My chosen one." Aurora's tone was almost playful

"He alone will stand against the demons and the forces of darkness? You speak in madness."

"This 'one human' pushed back the army of the Demon Father."

Rocent's eyes blazed. She thrust her hand over the field of the dead

"At the cost of ten thousand innocents!" She bellowed, "Aurora, The Powers never agreed to this act."

"The Powers sit on their hands and let evil corrupt the ones we supposedly care for! How is that justice?" Aurora placed a hand on Rocent's shoulder, "Sister, you have been as frustrated as I over The Powers using 'free will' as a shied for inactivity. If it were not for my intervention this world would be the second coming of Quortoth."

"The demon still roams the land" Rocent returned her gaze to the humans piling the dead

"And Harbinger will see to their end."

"By making more die to fuel his gift?" Rocent asked. Aurora looked shock, "It is no secret, sister, that Harbinger exhausted his power pushing back the Demon Father. How many human must be ended to ensure life?"

"There is no life without sacrifice," the sky rumbled. Aurora looked to the heavens, "They call us back. Come, we will deliver the good word of our victory over …"

"No!" Rocent delivered her Sister Power a hard look.

Aurora studied her, concerned "Rocent?"

"If your plan for their protection is this 'champion' then I will not leave them to your hands!" Aurora opened her mouth to speak. Rocent lifted her hand, "Leave me be! I can not bare the sight of you anymore."

Without another word exchanged Aurora vanished into the dark leaving Rocent to her thoughts. The Power took in a calming breath

"You keep coming to this moment child," Rocent turned her eyes to the young girl who watched her from a nearby rock, "What do you hope to find?"

The girl flinched, eyeing The Power that Be in shock.

"What?" She asked

Rocent approached stopped a few feet from her.

"You have seen this display a number of times Tisha Avallone, what difference are you trying to find?"

"I…ah… what?" Tisha floundered. This is the first time this had ever happened to her and she scrambled to keep her balance on the rock

"A fool runs in circles and thinks himself moving forward."

"Are… Are you actually talking to me?" Tisha's mind spun, "I… I thought this was a Vis…"

"You avoid the question I asked you."

Tisha regained a semblance of control. She took a moment to collect her thought

"I-I'm trying to get answers."

Rocent walked over to a nearby rock and took a seat.

"Then share with me your trouble."

A laugh escaped Tisha's worried lips involuntarily "You got two days?"

"Yes." Rocent replied

Tisha shifted for a moment

"Oh… Well, that was kinda a joke, but…" Tisha had difficulty looking into Rocent's calm expression. Tisha sighed and hugged her knees, "There's a lot that's been happening lately..."

_**Warden's office, Slayer Detention Facility, Highlands, Scotland – 4 months ago**_

Sophie Hollister was having a bad day.

No, scratch that, she has been having a bad four years. It had come to that point in the crossroads for her again. That moment where either met her destiny or her destiny slips through her grasp. Almost like clockwork the latter made itself known. Both in paper form and in the form of the stern man that stood above he in the office. 

"Well young lady," Warden Alfred Hollister asked, "What is the excuse this time?"

Sophie brushed a few blond strands back into the immaculately styled hair that framed her long face. She wrung her hands nervously over her suit skirt. By the end of next month Sophie would be twenty but, in these moments with her father, she felt like she was nine. Warden Hollister was no longer buying the act. He was a mountain of a man with tidy dark hair and stern features which showed his displeasure at his daughter failure.

"I… The references I brought with me were for the wrong subject," Sophie tried to explain, the words tumbling clumsily out of her mouth, "When I arrived at the exam…"

"Three times, Sophie! You have failed to make Watcher three times. In the entire history of our family has this never happened, What are you doing in those exams?"

Sophie turned away from her father.

"I'm trying father, I… exam pressure has never been my strength…"

Warden Hollister moved behind his desk to examine her training record which only caused him more anger. 

"You hid during your vampire encounter?" he snapped

"He was trying to attack us." Sophie replied

"Inside the cage."

Sophie shifted uncomfortable, the gears in her mind spinning so fast she could practically smell smoke.

"I was… attempting to get into its strike zone so I could…?"

"Get yourself killed, or turned," Sophie jumped when Warden Hollister slammed his hands hard on the desk, "This is not acceptable of a Hollister. For ten generations we have been blessed with the honour of protecting others and I will not have you break the chain. Like it or not this is your destiny Sophie and I want you to take it more seriously!"

She dropped her eyes in respect

"Yes father."

The phone on Warden Hollister's desk buzzed. He snatched up the receiver

"What?" He yelled

"She's awake," A cool female voice replied, "We're moving her to interrogation one"

Sophie watched as her fathers expression changed.

"I'll be there in a minute."

He hung up the phone and headed for the door. Just as he was about to exit Warden Hollister paused and looked down at his daughter.

"Follow, I want you to see something."

Like an obedient puppy Sophie trailed behind her father.

_**Interrogation one, Slayer Detention Facility, Highlands, Scotland**_

Sophie didn't know what to make of the scene in front of her. Interrogation one was a circular room with an observation section protected behind thick shockproof glass. In the centre of the room at sat a very gaunt girl, with messy, shoulder length, light brown hair. She was dressed in a discoloured prison outfit. The girl crouched on the floor, her hand and feet chained close together on to a small ring which had been riveted to the ground. Six guards surrounded her, weapons itching to be used. Sophie could feel her father's disgust for this girl from where she was standing.

"Take a close look at her Sophie," The Warden's voice echoed out of the speakers inside the room, "This is what a monster looks like."

The girl lifted her head weakly to reveal a fresh bruise on her cheek. Sophie caught sight of the name 'Gabrielle' stitched into the top of her uniform.

"She doesn't look that dangerous." Sophie replied

"They never do, this is the point I am trying to make, a watcher needs to be prepared for the unexpected or things like Gabrielle Blake will destroy us all," Warden Hollister leaned closer into the microphone, "You like to kill children don't you Gabrielle? We found your trophies in a number of cities across the United States."

"I'm not Gabrielle!" Gabrielle's voice protested

"Oh really?" Warden Hollister replied, "And who are you today?"

Gabrielle tried to sit up as best as she could under the restraints

"Like I was trying to explain to Miss Hits-ya-face over here," she gestured to the fair haired guard who stared daggers at her, "My name is Xander Harris, I was put in this body by the First Evil. I know I don't have the manly parts to back this up right now so I'm gonna need you to trust me on this. Right now the most important thing is contacting Buffy. I need you pass on a message that The First has Harbinger and she needs to stop it!"

The Warden never changed his expression.

"Take it back to it's cell," He ordered the guards, "I'll deal with it later."

Gabrielle, or Xander to be correct, looked at the guards in a panic. She floundered against their strength as she was unlocked from the floor and dragged out into the corridor. Sophie watched as she screaming at them to pass on what she'd said. Warden Hollister turned back to Sophie.

"This is what we protect the world from, and you will not shame our name young lady."

Sophie dipped her head and followed her father to the exit. She looked back into the interrogation room deep in thought.

"Father, are you going to pass on her message?" she asked

"I will not dignify that animal with existence," Warden Hollister replied

_**Central Business District, Phoenix Arizona**_

The sky rumbled in the cloudless night. It had been doing that for a couple of weeks now to a number of people confusion. Astronomers and physicists tried to justify the phenomenon as unusual solar activity. But for people well versed in the mystic they knew the real reason. It had started three weeks ago, when The Power that Be Aurora was banished from a cave in Africa, she had been returned home to face the judgement of the other Powers but what nobody in either plane expects was the support she mustered. Little news had come since that moment but it with how the balance between good and evil was effective the debate was getting heated.

Kennedy didn't have time for that. Her focus was squarely on the eight foot Quortoth Demon about to rip a hole in her and her girls. the major problem with the Quortoth demon was it had no concept of subtle. The council had a hell of a time trying to justify the thousands of portals to the hell dimension that Aurora opened and an even tougher time stopping the death machines that slipped through. This one was particularly rowdy. The Phoenix Branch had barely enough time to empty the stores of people before it started causing chaos. They had managed to back it into a corner but at the cost of three of her girls.

"Hold it still!" Kennedy screamed as she ducked under the swipe of a huge talon, "Sam, Jenifer are you ready?"

She looked over to two slayer holding a pole-vault sized spear. They nodded. Kennedy directed the rest of her squad to clear it chest. With tight coordination they cleared the target area and the two girls plunged the weapon in. the demons screams rattled the glass for three blocks. Half Kennedy's team and to dive out of the way as the demons hulk crashed to the ground. The girls sat in a dishevelled group breathing heavily. Kennedy pressed the comm. in her ear

"Tell that the last of them in this city" She asked, "I don't wanna go through that again."

"London's not sure ma'am, latest word is there's three more somewhere in the area." An obedient voice on the other end replied

Kennedy rolled her eyes and directed her team back onto their feet. 

"Fantastic, remind me to send Will and Buff a thank you note for the fun times we're having," She kicked the dead demon in the head. She started scanned the area, "This one's down, better have it out and disposed of before morning rush hour or…"

Something on the top level of the nearby car park caught her attention. Carefully she collected her swords and held it ready.

"Phoenix … I think I saw movement, is there another team …"

Something sharp hit her in the shoulder. Kennedy winced a looked down to see a small dart draining amber fluid into her arm. The rest of the girls were hit. Kennedy's senses sharpened as she examined each building for the source. Suddenly, her sword gained twenty pound as a weakness spread through her body. She collapsed to her knees and watched the rest of her team join her. that's when the area exploded to life. Soldiers materialised from the shadows, surrounding them in a number of seconds. Kennedy tried to punch out at the closest but, to her shock, he caught her wrist and she couldn't break free. A tazer was jabbed into her ribs and she dropped like a rock. When all of the girl were subdued Riley pulled off his mask. He touched the comm. In his ear

"O.I. Mobile this is O.I. Leader," He ordered, "Slayers are contained. Request transport and cleanup ASAP."

"Acknowledged O.I. Leader. Transport in bound" O.I. mobile replied

The last thing Kennedy remembers that evening was the sound of Helicopters taking their freedom.


	2. get in the way of the slaughter

_**Guinn's Florist, Cleveland**_

Abigail preened, arranged and wrapped. She'd become quite adept at making bouquets and found a peace within the work. She loved the aromas, how the colours matched together and how different types of flowers can be used to make interesting shapes and patterns. Compared with what her life was like before, Guinn Donaldson's offer to let herself and Tisha live and work with her was tad amount to paradise. What pleased her most was how much better Tisha seemed since arriving, especially after... What?

She paused on the bouquet of roses she was wrapping and frowned at the block. She knew something bad had happened, she knew it affected the both of them, but for the life of her she couldn't remember what it was. Abigail had been running into a lot of these mental blocks for the past few weeks and she wasn't sure why. It was like her mind was a book that someone had taken to with a pot of ink, splotching it over the pages so that important information couldn't be read. The worst thing for her had been talking. It seemed to come so naturally to everybody else but when she tries it herself she couldn't get a handle on how it worked.

A noise to her right brought her out of her reflective moment. Abigail looked up from the arrangement and met the welcoming eyes of Harbinger. Her heart skipped as the heat rose to her face; Abigail checked her hair and straightened her clothes as Xander walked to the counter, a single red rose in his hand.

"Hey Beautiful," Xander said in a soft tone Abigail smiled wide. He leaned on the counter and placed the rose into her hand, "I got you this"

She cradled it like a diamond, her eyes sparkling with happiness. Xander was one think that didn't fall through the cracks, her feelings for him burned like hellfire. Xander looked between her and the rose a couple of times

"Oh, I can't live with this horrible lie anymore. I stole that rose from the bucket outside," Xander sighed playfully, "I'm just the source of all evil. Forgive me?"

Abigail looked up and pouted in feigned thought. She, leaned into him and kissed him. Behind Xander's eyes The First Evil drunk in the moment. This was a tale to retell for a special audience. The First leaned Xander's body against the counter.

"So how you been Abb?"

Abigail gave him her 'Can't complain' shrug. She pulled out a small notepad and a pencil in her pocket and scribbled

_What are you doing here?_

"Me, just doing my check in rounds, had my usual visit time with Helain and thought I'd check in with the rest of my favourite lady folk," He looked around the store with mild curiosity, "Where's Guinn and Tish?"

_Guinn had a delivery, Tish, Acolyte enclave, she had to finish up some stuff, I think._

The First raised Xander's eyebrow.

"What kind of stuff?"

_**Acolyte Enclave, Portland Oregon**_

Nothing could pull Tisha from Tommy sketches. She sat cross legged on her bed, cell phone resting under ear as she soaked up as much of the prophetic crayon masterpieces as she could.

"Hello?" A pleasant female voice answered on the other end of the line

Tisha straightened. She double checked the notes she made on a notepad near her knee "is this Principal Kay Haney?"

"Yes, can I help you?"

"Hi, my name is Tisha Avallone; I think one of your kindergarten students sent me something"

"Oh, you're Tisha," Kay voice took on a sombre tone, "I can't tell you how sorry I am about the loss of Tommy. How are you holding up sweetheart?"

Tisha held up Tommy's drawing, studying them.

"I'm okay" She tried to sound as honest as she could

"Pass on my condolences to the rest of the family."

"Yeah, I will," Tisha replied hesitantly, "Listen, I've been away from my place for a while, can you tell me when Tommy sent this to me?"

"He didn't, I delivered it myself about a week ago," Kay explained, "Poor, Samantha Kelleman, she couldn't continue teaching after such a brutal act of one of her students. I helped her tidy out her classroom and we found it slipped behind one of the book cases. You know how Tommy liked to hide things?"

Kay gave bittersweet laughed cementing the guilt inside of Tisha. Tisha would have loved to say 'the only connection Tommy and I have is we're both psychic and I found out about his death through a vision I got from the letter he sent' but all she could manage was

"Yeah"

"I had already had plans to visit family in Portland and the letter and drawings were so sweet I just had to make sure they got to you."

"Thank you very much."

"If you need to talk Tisha, Don't hesitate to call me."

"Um…Okay, I will." Tisha waited for Kay to end before hanging up her cell. She returned to contemplating the drawings

One of the first lessons a young Acolyte learns is that messages from the powers are not always direct. One could say the principal and

The teacher found the envelope, one could also say The Powers made its presence known. Her thoughts returned to Africa and to the last message delivered by Asabi. She told Abigail The Powers had not forsaken her and maybe this was evidence of that. The picture that held her focus the most was of the girl in the unfamiliar robe kneeling at the foot of the angel. She was almost certain that the brown haired girl was supposed to be her, which she drew from both the vision and the letter that came with the drawings, but was stumped her most was who was the angel supposed to represent? Her first instinct was Abigail because of the first picture depicting the banishing ritual she performed in the African cave. But her mind couldn't help but drift to the memory of the woman who appeared during the ritual. The one Aurora claimed was Rocent.

This had to be the first step in helping Abigail. Problem was she wasn't sure in which direction she was supposed to start. Tisha placed the drawings back in the envelope and settled back into the bed. She felt like the answer was right there, in front of her eyes, so close she could grab onto it... Tisha took a calming breath.

An angry mind smashes like a raging river that cares not for the fisherman.

This made her smile; it saying was taught to her during her first magic lesson. When an Acolyte reaches the age of twelve they start their training in how to channel their magic which was the first step taken before they elevate to Acolyte Novice-hood. Tisha, however, was brought in two years earlier because of her divining power manifesting. The others in the lesson took to the training smoothly but Tisha struggled. She threw a tantrum and stormed out of the class. The lesson instructor, Acolyte Solomon was a man of infinite patience. Without loosing a step he guided her back into the lesson and kept on instructing, helping her with her first steps. Tisha straightened with inspiration. She collected the envelope and left her room.

The Enclave library sat at the furthest right corner, housed inside a large decorative building. The welcoming smell of centuries of history greeted Tisha as she pushed open the heavy tan door and stepped inside. Tisha couldn't help but smile at the slightly disorganised shelving system that the enclave had for these texts. The stacks followed the curve of the building in three separate lines. Crammed on each of the shelves were scrolls and heavy leather bound volumes which held everything from past Archsages to simple glamour incantations. Squashed into the centre of all this literature was the Librarians office which seemed even less tidy. From the doorway Tisha saw the familiar aged form of Acolyte Solomon hunched over record books scratching furiously with his ballpoint pen. She lifted her hand to knock on the door frame.

"Tisha Avallone," Solomon turned from his work to look at her before her knuckles met the wood, "Explain."

He was a thin man, with wiry greying black hair, tanned completion which had been aged further by the too much time in the sun and dark chocolate eyes that dared you to challenge them. Tisha froze from a moment wondering if there was a protocol she had forgotten to observe in her time away. Solomon stood to his full six foot and looked down at her.

"I'm waiting student Avallone"

"Mr. Solomon?" She asked nervously

"Why were you absent at the right of novice-hood?"

"I don't live here anymore," Tisha eyed him confused, "I thought Archsage Mendoza explained it to everybody"

"He told me you are taking time to greave, that's expected, ignoring your heritage isn't. I will guide you through this at next years ceremony."

"I'm not an Acolyte" She shifted uncomfortably

Solomon

"Why aren't I convinced of that?" Solomon replied, "Tisha, it's hard to see the sun so soon after the storm. Give yourself a chance to breathe then take your moment to see if you still hold the faith."

Tisha smiled. Even out of this place she still takes lessons from Acolyte Solomon. Solomon softened and offered her a small smile

"How can I help you Student Avallone?"

Tish pulled one of the drawings from the envelope and handed it to Solomon.

"Have you seen an outfit like this before?" She asked, pointing to the kneeling brunette in the unfamiliar robe

Solomon studied it closely

"This drawing is a little crude."

"It was done by a four year old psychic," Tisha explained, "I've been through all the Rocent stuff I could find and I didn't see anything like this."

"You so sure it refers to Rocent the Lost?" Solomon didn't sound as sceptical as The Archsage about her theory

"It's the only thing that makes sense about what I saw in the cave."

There was a sparkle in Solomon's eyes. He turned from Tisha and move to the far corner of the office. He cleared a number of tomes out of the way until the door of a safe came into view. Solomon uttered a silent incantation and the door released its lock. Solomon reached inside and pulled out a grey, stone box the size of a large book. On the lid was carved the same glyph as the one Tommy drew on the girl's cloak. Solomon returned to Tish.

"What's that?" Tisha asked

"This box contains the original Rocent texts," Solomon placed the box in her hands

"I didn't know there were-"

Solomon felt a spark in her power. As soon as the box landed in her hand she went rigid, her eyes glazing over. He was at her side in a second, catching her as her knees buckled. Solomon carefully placed her in his chair and waited. He had spent enough time around Tisha to recognize her having a divining vision. When she returned Solomon was waiting with a glass of water. Tisha leaned forward and gasped heavily. Solomon handed her the glass and she gulped it down.

"I was there, I-I was with Rocent, she was on a ledge talking with Aurora," Tisha looked down at the box in her hand, "This is the original texts?"

"Yes, as scribed by her emissary, which is who the girl in your drawing is I believe. Not many of the recent Rocent texts mention her, a common problem with retellings of retellings. "

Tisha looked from the box to the drawing. The Emissary of Rocent. Could their text lead to the answer of helping Abigail?

_**The Council of Watchers Home-office, London, England**_

"Are you sure Phoenix?"

Giles tried to keep his usual even tone but under the circumstances it was being tested. The Home-office was the heart of the Council Operation. It was house in a number of the older buildings near the south end of the Thames and is home of the new main archive which had taken many years to replace after the explosion that destroyed the original. It also housed the Watcher academy and was one of the three major slayer training hubs.

"We're going on thirty six hours without contact from Kennedy or her team," The Phoenix Branch Watcher explained, "Our other teams have searched the entire city and surrounding desert five times. There's no trace of them sir."

"Is there a chance the Quortoth Demon killed them?" Giles felt the bile rise from his stomach

"We would love to confirm that but there is no sign of the demon either, in fact, if we didn't have the comm. recording from Kennedy's team we'd swear there was never a battle at all."

"Alright, keep me apprised, Home-office out." He cut the comm. line and pulled off his glasses, cleaning them as he returned to the world map that covered the wall in front of him. Giles approached and stuck a pin into Phoenix. A knock at the door broke him from his ruminating.

"You rang?" Buffy asked, two freshly brewed coffees in her hands

"Buffy, good, we have a problem."

Buffy raised an eyebrow

"Really, huh, you know, with the mass load of chaos that's sprung up overnight I didn't notice."

"I just received a call from Phoenix," Giles ignore the sarcasm and pressed on, "Kennedy and her team have vanished. This makes the fifth US based team to disappear without a trace in the last week or so."

Buffy leaned next to him against the desk.

"Isn't it early for the red alert?" Buffy handed him his coffee, "Giles, you have noticed the Venti sized crap-storm that's hit since The Powers took their meeting?"

"Understood, but, it is only US teams that have vanished."

"So, it could be demons who worship at the altar of David Copperfield. The point is, this isn't unusual for us, they could be deep cover for all we know."

"There's more," Giles moved back to the main console and brought up a recording, "This call was received by the Cleveland Branch a few days ago."

Giles played the file. The sound crackled so violently that only every other word could be deciphered.

_Cleveland! This is...(Static)...escaped from their compou...(Static)...sistance! There are soldiers track...(Static).. ur powers! I've lost thr...(Static)...y girls already! I need..._

"The call ends there." Giles replied

All humour vanished from Buffy, her face now sharp and focused.

"Soldiers?"

"Apparently, unfortunately, that's the only clue we have," Giles returned to the map and the five pins, "Cleveland was the first to report a missing team. This was closely followed by New York, Chicago, Boston and finally Phoenix. The reports from those branches state no evidence could be gathered at any site."

Buffy studied the pins on the map

"No mess, no fuss, Could they've been magicked away?" Buffy asked

"On site mystics reported no sign of either translocation or portal magic."

"What does that leave us with?" Buffy asked

"A notch above nothing I'm afraid," Giles took a sip from his mug, "The best we can do be on alert and wait for a sign."

They both stood and studied the board in deep thought.

"How do you think David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty Disappear?" Buffy asked

"Dimensional shifting," Giles registered Buffy's confused look, "David Copperfield is a fifth circle sorcerer, he simply slipped it into a different dimension for a few minutes."

"And now you've ruined the whole act for me."

_**Maximum security wing, Slayer Detention Facility, Highlands, Scotland - Midnight**_

Xander focused on a single space on the roof. That particular piece of stone work had developed some moss coverage and she swore it moved on its own. This was a side effect of Xander war against his new body which had ground to a very ungrateful truce. Her body wanted to sleep desperately but his mind ordered it to stay alert. Xander spent most of the afternoon and all of an evening trying to figure out how to get the word to Buffy about The First and the only revelation she had come up with was thinking hurt right now. She decided on a break until this body recovered. Unfortunately, the guards had a different plan.

Xander let go of her delicate grasp of consciousness and felt herself drifting into sleep. At that moment, the door to her cell burst open as six guards rushed in. Xander was pulled off the bed and onto her knees, two guards lifting her arms into the air. Xander felt a sudden chill as she was stripped of her prison clothes, her wrists and ankles shackled. She wanted to protest about this action but quickly remember what happened the last time she spoke up. As humiliating as this is, she had no choice but to play along until she could get someone to believe her.

Xander regretted this plan almost immediately as she was dragged, shacked and naked, through the ice cold prison until she found herself in the precarious kneeling position inside of interrogation one. Two harsh halogen lights shone into her eyes, tracing the unforgiving form of Warden Hollister. He had two guards of his own flanking him either side, one placing a chair a few feet from Xander. Warden Hollister sat and rested his notes on his lap before delivering to Xander one of the most hated looks she had ever received. He checked his notes

"Adeline Valdez, Anastasia Cole, Brandi Hall, Cynthia McKenzie, Emilia Ferrell, Henrietta Short," He read off the names from his list, "Alex Valencia, Daniel Hatfield, Eddie O'Neal, Jerrold Hicks, Rocky Hamilton, Wyatt Garza. Do you recognize any of the names Gabrielle?"

"I told you, I'm not her, my name is Xander-" Xander replied sincerely as possible

Warden Hollister nodded. Xander felt the unmistakable pain of a cattle-prod poked into her bare back. Xander screamed, collapsing onto the cold stonework.

"Do you recognize the names?" Hollister repeated

"No" Xander croaked out

"Of course you don't," Hollister scanned further into his notes, "You never bothered to learn names did you Gabrielle, it would get in the way of the slaughter. Those are the names of the lucky ones, children who are still missing and who you have locked away somewhere. Where did you hide them Gabrielle?"

"I don't know what else to say to you Warden?" Xander struggled back into a sitting position, "I'm being straight here, my name is Xander, The First Evil has Harbinger and you need to tell Bu..."

The cattle-prod returned along with Xander screaming.

"Since you're planning on being uncooperative, why don't I remind you why your in this position," Hollister got off his chair and the guard not on cattle-prod duty pulled it aside. From his pocket he produced a TV remote and pressed the power. Behind the shockproof glass video monitors flickered to life, displaying a slide show of the victims, "I guess this must be like art for you, your twisted version of a renaissance masterpiece. We found them like this across the US, all the same, a dozen children, six boy, six girls lain head to toe in two lines. Torsos were sliced open, their internal organs extracted and arranged into a separate pile."

Xander's stomach twisted as a photo of the heart, lung and kidney piles appeared on the screen. She tried to turn away but the guards forced her to look. Warden Hollister turned back to her.

"You obviously consider yourself above us or else why leave them on display for the parents to find," darkness settled into Warden Hollister's eyes, "I'm here to remind you of how wrong that thought is. If you hold the slightest modicum of hope to see any regular sunlight again there is only one choice. Tell us where the children are!"

Xander couldn't think, couldn't breath. The images of those children seeping into her soul like bile through a sponge. Xander shifted her eyes to Warden Hollister struggling with the only three words she had.

"I'm...Not...Her..."

It was until two in the morning before Xander was dressed and dumped back into her cell. Across the majority of her back the cattle prod burn marks stuck in the putrid fabric. Xander didn't have the strength to pull herself up onto the bed instead she curled into the foetal position and shook uncontrollably. Two hours of the same question and the same images repeated. Xander closed her eyes and tried to will her mind back into focus but all it could do was repeat the slide show of horror over and over again. Suddenly there was a shift in temperature. The sound of fire crackled around his head which caused enough of a distraction for her to open his eyes.

She recognized the harbinger dream-share at once as the base of the hellmouth appeared into view but it was different, more distorted and haggard, sections of wall protruding out at sharp angels. Around the parameter three rings burned, the familiar red and blue rings were present but in between them was a think layer of black flame. From the haze came a familiar form as Harbinger stepped into view. He crouched in front of him.

"Xander! How've you been? Well?" The First Evil said in a cheery tone, "You liking the body I found for you?"


	3. It's either Watcher or death

"Xander! How've you been? Well?" Xander didn't meet the First Evil's eyes, "You liking the body I found for you?"

This had been the first Harbinger dream-sharing experience Xander had since convincing Helain of his identity. She curled up like and armadillo hiding from danger, lacking the physical and emotional energy to deal with the body-jacking source of all evil right at that moment. The First gave an impatient huff.

"Somebody doesn't appreciate my effort, I mean, it's almost as if you don't like the serial killing, child mutilator, I put you inside" The First continued

"How did you find her?" Xander croaked out

"You know, that was a stumper at first, but then I remembered something important," The First leaned in next to her, his mouth inches from her ear, "I invented evil, and I know how to track it."

"You were trapped inside," Xander winced at The First's proximity, "they told me you were trapped inside."

"No, I was caged inside, big difference, I do have to thank you though, all that time stuck in your mental sewage system allowed me to decode our Matrix and, boy, were we told some whoppers in our travels together," The First twisted Xander's face into an evil grin. He gestured to the air and a pair of images floated either side of him, "Speaking of, just want you to know, I've been taking good care of our girls."

One of the images was inside of Guinn's florist where The First was involved in a passionate kissing session with Abigail. The other made Xander scowl. She balled up her fist, her nails digging deep into the skin as she watched The First with Helain. This was in the garden of Helain's hospital. The First was sitting with her, holding her hand, as he delicately brushed his lips to hers. Helain seemed startled by this sudden display of affection but slowly they became more passionate. A gasp rung out against the hellmouth walls, it surprised The First, who looked around to find the source, but it became clear where it had come from. Xander hadn't realised it was her but, clearly, The First had. He moved to Xander's side and watched the scenes play out.

"You know, there's a 'playing doctor' joke in this but a pretty girl like you doesn't need to hear dirty talk like that," The First gently stroked Xander's hair, "Out of the both of them Helain surprised me the most, You really missed out on something hot all those nights alone with her, Now I don't know who's gonna make it to the finish line. Maybe it should be a dead heat, seems only fair."

Xander attacked before she was aware of moving. One moment she was on her side the next she was sitting up her fist flying straight for her old body's face. Harbinger was on the ball. He dodged the strike smoothly, catching Xander by the wrist.

"Easy, girl, a lady can get a reputation for something like that," He pushed her back onto the ground and got to his feet, "Besides, you should save all that loving for your new guard girlfriends. In the mean time I have a party favours to collect before the big night. Have fun in Slayer Detention Gabrielle Blake."

The dream ended. Xander returned to shaking on the ice cold stonework of the floor of his cell. As of right now there was only one thing that mattered, getting the message to Buffy.

_**Library, Council of Watcher Home-office, London England**__ – __**3 Weeks later**_

The words sat in their sentence structure and mocked her openly. Sophie must have looked through this text nearly three dozen times now and each time the information refused to settle into her mind. It wasn't a great mystery to see why it wouldn't, considering most of her thinking power has been taken up by her fathers inspiring speech about not disappointing the family. Sophie leaned back and tried to rub the migraine she was suffering out of her eyes. She couldn't fail a forth time; there was no coming back from that type of shame. A hot coffee arrived in front of her by way of Audrey Butler, a recently graduated watcher who Sophie shared a room with while Audrey studied. Audrey had tightly cropped, light brow hair and round face gave her the remarkable talent of looking fifteen despite being six years older. Audrey took the seat across from her, a flash of amusement in her green eyes.

"So, which stage of grief have we landed on today?" She asked

"I think I'm about to pass denial on my way to bargaining," Sophie sighed and sipped at her drink, "What time is it?"

Audrey checked her watch

"It's getting close to eleven PM."

Sophie looked at her friend in alarm

"What, you're joking," Sophie slumped back into her chair, "I'm never going to have this down pat for tomorrow's language class."

"Of course you aren't, not when you're wound this tight, I keep telling you Sophie you need time to decompress."

"Evil never needs time to rest," Sophie parroted her father as she returned to her books; "A watcher has to keep on guard at all hours."

This earned her a look from Audrey. Audrey leaned across the desk and closed the book Sophie was reading.

"I think it's time you need to be honest with yourself Sophie. Do you really think being a Watcher is what you should be?"

"Being a watcher is a sacred duty. it is not a job I just picked up in the unemployment line."

Sophie tried to open the book but Audrey snatched it from her.

"Ask any of the graduates here and I'm certain they'll tell you that you haven't failed if you decided to leave," Audrey explained, "Sophie, You've worked harder then any of us and all you have achieved is running yourself into the ground. Let's face it, you don't have the makings of being a Watcher and that's nothing to be ashamed of."

Sophie folded her arms and glared at her defiantly notebook.

"Did your dad every roll out a child murder to use as an example of Watcher dedication?" Sophie asked

Audrey shifted uncomfortably at that thought

"No, can't say that he did."

"Mine did, the other day, that's how seriously the Hollister's treat the calling. Every Christmas I have to sit with my family as they retell the exciting stories of my ancestors, how my great, great grandfather, Edward Hollister ran the council unparalleled efficiency, stopping two apocalypses almost single- handedly," She fought against the tears as she spoke, "There is no quitting in the Hollister line. It's either Watcher or death, or at least that's how it feels. Now can I please have my book back? I need to study."

Audrey released the book back to Sophie's custody with a sympathetic smile and left her to her studies. What was there to say after all that? This was far from the end for Audrey, she would try and talk to her at a calmer moment, Audrey watch Sophie as stood from her table and entered the stacks then left her to her devices. Nearby another appeared from the books concerned over what she just heard. Sophie spent the next few minutes collecting several books to add to her growing pile. She turned to head back to her table when an over zealous red-head collided with her at breakneck speed, sending her and her books crashing to the ground.

"Ah…Sorry" The red-head barked out. Sophie glared after her as the red-head returned to her sprint down to central records room.

Sophie crawled and gathered her books. Suddenly she was joined by a second set of hands. Sophie snatched the books from them annoyed at the constant interruptions

"It's alight! I have… Ma'am?" Sophie neared shot out of her skin and the sight of Buffy returning her books

"Gotta be careful in these stacks, what with all the rushing, I'm think of putting up street signs, you know, help with traffic flow." Buffy replied

Sophie stared blackly.

"That was a joke, which is usually followed by laughter or some kind of laugh track..." Buffy continued

Sophie kept staring blackly. Buffy shifted her weight

"… Or not," She said, "You're Sophie Hollister right? Alfred Hollister's daughter?"

"Y-You know who I am?" Sophie finally managed

"I've read your results," Buffy replied, "Plus your dad's voice kinda carries on the comm. Look, I couldn't help but overhear you two talking back there."

"Don't pay Audrey much mind Ma'am. She likes to think she's being helpful," Sophie was up on her feet and stood at attention, "I am one hundred percent dedicated to the fight, call me into battle, and I will be your loyal soldier"

Buffy raised an eyebrow

"Okay, Sophie, relax before you break something important," Buffy replied, "I get the hint your dad lays it on kinda thick. Let me ask you something, what do you want to do?"

Sophie shifted uncomfortably

"I-I want to protect the world from…"

Buffy raised a hand

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure that was great for the application form but I want to know what you want to do."

Sophie chanced a look into Buffy's eyes. She relaxed her posture adopting something more insecure.

"I don't know, this… this is all I was brought up believing in."

"Then, honestly, maybe you need to get out more. Dedication to the ending of evil is good and all, but you're no good to us if you're likely to snap, postal worker style, and kill everyone around you, that'd be kinda a downer," Buffy smiled supportively

"What… What am I supposed to do?"

"You seem like a bright gal, I'm sure between the both of us we can come up with something you'd be happy with, come one we'll square it off with Giles."

Buffy took her around the shoulder. Sophie looked fearful

"Please, don't tell father," She begged, "He's already under enough pressure."

"Don't worry we'll deal with your dad," Buffy replied, she looked at Sophie curiously; "He really brought out a murder to make his point?"

"Gabrielle Blake. According to him, I needed to see the evil in the world." Sophie was a little surprised by her bitter tone

This caught Buffy's attention

"Gabrielle's awake? She letting on where those kids are?"

"Not while I saw her," Sophie replied, suddenly tired, "She did say the oddest thing though."

"Really? What was that?"

"Well, Gabrielle looked us straight in the eye and said she wasn't her but a man by the name of Xander Harris and that The First Evil was in control of Harbinger. I didn't know what to make of it honestly"

Sophie found herself brought to a sudden halt. Nervously she looked to the Slayer General who had become very serious.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

_**Research, Council of Watcher Home-office, London England – 10 minutes later**_

"Giles! We need to talk."

Giles looked up from the table where he studied the Charms of the Desert Dwellers. Next to him Shaquanda remained her passive self. Sophie was not as controlled, becoming flustered by the sudden sprint she was forced into.

"Buffy?" Giles asked

"I think we might have our connection!" Buffy continued

"We'll continue this later Shaquanda," Giles handed the machete to Shaquanda who sheathed it efficiently. She nodded and left the room. Giles moved to the other side of the table, "What are you talking about?"

Buffy presented Sophie like an award

"Sophie, tell him what you told me." Buffy stated.

Sophie repeated Gabrielle's message. Giles eyes lit up.

"Those were the exact phrases?" Giles asked

"Near enough to." Sophie replied

Giles and Buffy shared a look

"It makes sense if you think about it," Buffy explained, "Xander starts going off on his own then, all of a sudden, teams go missing. If the First is playing pilot then it's definitely got a plan brewing."

"But the message said soldiers"

Buffy shrugged

"How hard is it to recruit goons? Giles, if what Sophie is telling us is right, then The First as a really big gun and I don't want to be around when he decides to fire it off."

"One step at a time," Giles replied, "First, we need to confirm Xander's presence is indeed inside Gabrielle Blake."

"Contact Hollister at the prison. I'll call back Will from Phoenix," Buffy ordered, "We should bring 'Xander' in on this as well. It'll be good to have him nearby."

_**Operation: Initiative Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio**_

The slayers lay silently on a number of beds, which filled the bulk of the medical wing. General McAllister and Riley moved from room to room and watched as an army of doctors took blood and checked pulses cataloguing their results on individual charts.

"It looks like this batch might be the golden ticket," General McAllister stated, "The Phoenix slayers are still aware and alert."

"You mean they're not dead sir." Riley replied

General McAllister looked over to him before returning his gaze to the doctors.

"Doctor Harrington assures me that they have solved the toxicity problems of Batch A, and the short acting properties of Batch B." He replied

"You told me none of the women wouldn't be killed, sir." There was an accusatory tone under Riley's professional guise

They stopped walking, General McAllister turned to face him

"Agent Finn, while those first two tests were unfortunate losses, they are a necessary evil," He explained, "The women in those beds are enemy combatants who operated on home soil. You said yourself the Slayers are not in the habit of towing the line in the assessment you provided."

"I remember." Finn replied

"Then repeat it to me Agent," General McAllister ordered, "I'd like to be re-enlightened."

Riley took a focusing breath

"The Slayers are a law unto themselves. They represent no flag and no government preferring to remain an autonomous entity free from any country's oversight. They claim to be protecting the humans from the Hostle sub-terrestrial presence but, given the correct motivation, they would not hesitate to attack. leaving us very little avenue for defence."

"That's exactly right. We can't have a rogue element operating within the community; so it is the OIC mandate to purge and contain that element so that we can maintain our way of life."

"Understood sir," Riley replied

"I hope you do Agent, now rest up, we have a lot of work ahead."

General McAllister turned and headed for the stairs leaving Riley to his thoughts. Slowly he reached for the wedding bands that hung around the neck and felt their weight around his neck. Batch C looked like it was successful. Then it was time to win one for Sam.

"General McAllister!" Riley called out

The General stopped and looked at him "Yes Agent?"

"That offer of leave still available?"

"Of course, I never removed it from the table."

"I'd like to request my team join me on leave, sir," Riley kept his intense focus on General McAllister, "They've all worked hard and deserve the down time."

"You have some place in mind Agent?"

"I've heard Scotland is nice this time of year," Riley replied, "I have a friend with a place in the mountains, Gabrielle Blake, I've been meaning to catch up with her for a while now."

McAllister thought about it. He straightened up

"I think I can arrange that Agent, inform your men they're on leave until further notice," Riley saluted and walked towards the exit. McAllister called out and Riley turned back to him, "I'll make sure the quartermaster has your luggage ready in the armoury tomorrow morning. I know Sam would be glad you are so dedicated to your friends"

"I think she would be to sir." Riley replied


	4. The Perils of The Path

_**Slayer Detention Facility, Highlands, Scotland**_

They moved with the focus of royalty. All throughout the prison, the convicts stop to watch Buffy, Willow, Harbinger, Giles, Warden Hollister and Sophie accompanied by their sizeable entourage make their way through the facility on their way to Interrogation One.

"I assure you Gabrielle is just looking for the attention as per usual." Warden Hollister said as they passed through another checkpoint

"This info is on the wrong side of specific Alfred. Just want make sure there's truth inside the hype." Buffy replied

They stopped at the entrance to the corridor which lead to interrogation one.

"Understood Ma'am, but I have been dealing with Gabrielle ever since she arrived inside," Hollister explained, "She likes to wear masks, That's how we think she attracted the children, from what I've experience she can play roles from wounded to civil to homicidal and everywhere in between. This is just another face for the crowd."

"What I don't get is why she's got me on the mind" Xander's body asked

"It's a recent event." Buffy replied

He looked at her curiously. It had been the same reaction from everybody ever since he'd arrived. This sense had started when he'd got the out of the blue call to join them on this prison trip and got worse when he arrived. The most intense reaction came from Willow, who looked like she was about to unleash a world of pain on him.

"I'm sorry Buff, have I done something wrong?" he asked, "I can't help but feel how icy the shoulder you handed me right now."

Buffy, Willow and Giles shared a look

"Let's get this accomplished." Giles said and Hollister opened the door

They entered the hallway. Buffy was about to follow when she noticed Willow lingering around the door her terrified, yet furious eyes, locked onto Xander's form. She followed her eye line before she joined her.

"Will, everything will be fine." She said softly

"He knows where she is!" Willow retorted, the tears forming, "The First has her somewhere...I need her back, we need to deal..."

"We need to know he's it. If what Gabrielle's saying is right, you have my blessing to rip him as many new ones as it takes to get Kennedy back."

Willow looked from Xander to Buffy her gears jumping from angry to anxious.

"But... It has Xander too. I-I don't know if..."

"We'll figure it out," Buffy replied, "Come on; let's go find us a Xand."

Willow nodded and the both of them rejoined the Group.

Xander knew today was different. It started in its usual fashion with the wake up call at an obscene hour in the morning but instead of the two hour grilling she was dragged to the shower block. She was washed and brushed, a new prison outfit throw onto her body, by the time Xander had been chained to the floor of Interrogation One the microscopic sliver of hope she had been clinging to with every drop of strength exploded inside. It reached its peak when the door open and Buffy walked into the room.

"Oh, thank the mercy of Asgard! Buff!" Xander nearly collapsed in relief

"Xander?" Buffy kept her guard up as she looked her new body up and down

"In somebody else's flesh." Gabrielle Xander replied, "Look, I know lady me is gonna be a hard sell but you gotta listen. The First"

At that moment he watched as his body stepped into the room. Xander darkened, glaring fiercely at his body. His body seemed very confused by this.

"Um, someone wanna let me in on the party game?" Xander's body asked

Buffy turned it him with the same intensity.

"Alright, one of the two of you is Xander," Buffy explained, "The other is in epic trouble. We're here to find out which one's who."

Xander watched his body shake its head.

"I'm sorry, when did I stop being me?" it asked

"Africa" Gabrielle Xander replied, "Right about the time you kicked me out? Remember that?"

"What are you taking about?" Giles asked

"The First picked my lock before right before it defused Helain."

"Well, that was oddly specific for a gal in the joint," Buffy raised and eyebrow and turned to Xander, "Xander, your rebuttal?"

"She's right, I stopped Helain from purging," Xander replied, "if I am The First why would I end that?"

"He's got point Gab" Buffy remarked

"He's gotta plan Buff," Gabrielle Xander, "When has The First ever been that straight down the line? It has a plan up my sleeve"

Giles raised his hands

"Alright this is getting us nowhere, Willow? Would you like to do the honour?"

Willow nodded and moved to Gabrielle Xander's side. She knelt and placed a hand on Xander's head and started to push in with her magic. Gabrielle Xander waited anxiously all of her fury directed at the thing in his body. She expected to see a little concern in The First's eyes but he saw the opposite. He saw his own face smile and wink, enjoying the moment. Gabrielle Xander looked to Willow who pulled away distress in her eyes. She looked at Buffy

"It not him" She said sadly, "Xander's not in there."

Gabrielle Xander snapped her head around

"What?" She exclaimed, "No, I'm me! Guys"

Buffy looked at Gabrielle Xander in a new light.

"Okay, if he's not her where did the info come from?" she asked

"Not sure," Willow probed deeper with her magic. She felt a spark coming near the floor. She examined lower and found the source. Willow's attention was focused on Gabrielle Xander's right ankle, "Guys"

Everybody joined her, including Gabrielle Xander. Tattooed onto her right ankle was a small pentagram, cuneiform glyphs placed in the gaps and around the outside. Buffy moved to her side.

"Oh god!" Willow only touched it for a second before recoiling in shock.

"What, What is it?" Buffy asked

"That a vayil!" Willow exclaimed

"Oh my lord." Giles moved in closer to get a better look

"Guys, Answers?" Buffy asked looking at the both of them

"A vayil is a mind shadowing spell," Willow explained, "With this she could skim through people's thoughts. This girl knows top shelf magic"

"Wait a minute," Gabrielle Xander couldn't believe this question was coming from her body, "Wasn't Gabby caught during Africa? Where'd she get the Intel from?"

"Like I said, Gabrielle likes to wear masks," Warden Hollister replied, "and if, as you say, she could skim minds then she could have pulled it from a number of people who she was around. The events of Africa has been on the mind of a number of people."

"This could explain how she pied piper the children" Buffy thought

Gabrielle Xander was dumfounded, the glimmering beacon of hope ebbing away fast.

"No, guy's, seriously it's me," She exclaimed. She focused all her anger on Xander, "The First did something, trust me, I had it in my head for months, it's going..."

The fist came out of nowhere. Gabrielle Xander lurched to the side and collapsed to the floor from Buffy's attack. She stared at Buffy's furious glare as she turned to Warden Hollister.

"Do what you can to find those kids."

"Yes Ma'am" Warden Hollister

Gabrielle Xander was flabbergasted. The group worked its way out of the room and with it her hope. She rested her head on the ground completely numb.

"So, let me get this right, your masterstroke of a plan was to talk? And that was gonna do what? "Gabrielle Xander lifted her head to see The First leaning against the wall across from her, "You think I'd put you into a body then leave a paper trail? Please, I'm actually insulted"

"This isn't ending here." By this stage Gabrielle Xander didn't believe what she was saying. The First laughed

"Yeah, it kinda is Xandy Girl," The First sat down next to her, "See, you played what we like to call, your last gambit. There's no big rescue, no edgy play, no come-from-behind victory. All there's left is you, your new body, these walls and the rest of eternity. I want you to think of something when they drag you back to your cell..."

The First leaned in

"... I win."

He disappeared in ebony flame. Gabrielle Xander dropped her head back onto the ground and stared absently off into space. He broke inside; with no hope to cling to he slipped into the darkness, losing all sense of time and place. Chained to that floor it felt to her like she was frozen in time while the rest of the world spun in high speed the hours passing like minutes. Xander barely registered the movement when the door open slowly. With no energy, she watched in a detached fashion as three masked people slipped inside. The two women and the one man looked down at her for some reason, voices echoing out into the world.

The taller female approached, machete in her hand, she stood over Xander and she begged for the end. Metal shattered and Xander's limbs were freed. The shorter female approached and put her hands on Xander. A spark of resistance flooded her. Xander fought back against the intruders, crawling away from them until she found the wall. The shorter woman remained insistent. She dropped down in front of Xander and pulled off her mask, a shower of red hair falling either side of her worried green eyes. The woman touched her face and a delivered the past. Xander stopped fighting and caught up with the world. She collapsed into the redhead's arms, looking up at the African girl and the dark skinned man who accompanied her before succumbing to shock.

_**Apartment, Guinn's florist, Cleveland Ohio**_

Tisha felt drained.

She had spent the better part of the evening ploughing through the ancient scripture that was the original Rocent text. She'd set up a little research section in the lounge, Tommy's drawing pinned to a board over the desk as the weathered papyrus was draped over every surface. The translation of the text was progressing but it was progressing slowly. The advantage she had over any other former Acolyte was Tisha was in line for Archsage. Part of that legacy meant she was instructed in the various languages the ancient Acolytes wrote in. The Rocent text resembled one of those languages but had an older script which was bogging her down in details. Tisha placed the reference book in her hand on the pile next to her chair and rested her hands on the bridge of her nose. She looked up at the living room clock, which read four AM. She accused of lying to her.

The sound of a bedroom door creaking broke her from her concentration. Tisha turned to find Abigail rubbing the sleep from her eyes, staring at Tisha was deep concern. If she could talk Tisha could have guessed the lecture she would have received from her. These late night research sessions had been a regular act since she came back from the enclave three weeks ago. As much as Abigail tried to coax her to bed Tisha brushed it off saying she wanted to finish the passage she was working on but Abigail wouldn't back off the point. Abigail died, become a herald for The Powers, forced to fall, sacrificed her own sanity and lost her voice to the powerful talisman keeping her together and, still, her focus was on being Tisha's big sister.

"I'll be in bed soon Abby," Abigail folded her arms and glared, "Seriously, I've nearly got this page, I'll go then."

Abigail rolled her eyes and stormed over to the desk. She snatched up Tisha's notebook and shot out a furious series of points towards their bedroom. Tisha didn't budge. She turned to Abigail her eyes pleading.

"Abby this could help you," Tisha snatched Tommy's drawing of the emissary from the wall and showed it to her, "Look, see the girl in the drawing, she's wearing an emissary robe and, I'm not a hundred percent, but I think that symbol on it is supposed to represent Rocent. It written all over these pages so I guess it how they wrote her name."

Abigail shook her head furiously and yanked the picture from her hand. Tisha didn't back down

"Wait, please, hear me out!" Abigail sighed and rolled her eyes. She folded her arms and leaned against the back of the sofa and waited, Tisha pulled down the other images and handed all three to her, "Okay, so, I told you about Tommy, he was one of the Psychic Harbinger victims. You told me about the sketches at the Cleveland Branch, well, that was him. I'm sure this one of the girl in the robe is somewhere in our future. I don't know if that girl's supposed to be me or someone we find, what ever this is I'm sure this text is the way to this point! Maybe tell us what happened in the Council Nest"

Abigail shone the familiar look Tisha recognised as a combination of sympathy and guilt. Abigail put the drawings back on the table and kissed Tisha on the forehead. She pulled the tired teen to her feet; a quick shove in Tisha's back towards the bedroom reinforced her message. Tisha thought about fighting but fatigue made her conceded defeat. She trudged to their room and Abigail helped her into bed, pulling the blanket over her. There was something soothing about having Abigail brush her hair and it wasn't long before she slipped peacefully into sleep.

That's when things got weird.

Tisha found herself kneeling in the Archsage's chamber back at the enclave, the room decorated in the style her mother chose. At the far end of the room the Rocent text lay flat across its entire surface. A figure stood to the side of the table, looking down at the text with pity as if it was a complete mistake these writing existed. Tisha thought about joining her but when the woman looked into Tisha with those judgemental blue eyes chills ran through her.

"You walk a dangerous line Tisha," Aurora said gently palming the paper, "Your mother understood the perils of the path."


	5. Look through the moment

_**Bowls, Sunnydale Crater**_

There's something to be said about coming home

It's a welcome feeling that can not be experienced anywhere else, a sense of belonging that you can never get anywhere else. The First never true had anywhere he considered home but after seven plus years on the Sunnydale Hellmouth it was the closest thing. The place had gone down hill since its founding back during the 1800's and the property market had an impossible time recovering after the sum total of the real estate suddenly found itself subterranean. But where there's land there's life and within the crater life continued.

The First appeared in ebony flame. He stood in the dead centre of the crater surrounded by remnants of the town. It had been reorganized and rebuilt into a shanty town that spread for miles. From the buildings the populous emerged and looked at their guest with disdains. The demons resembled centaurs, if centaurs looked like crab people with spider legs. The First drew the Homehaelru blade in readiness as his eyes ignited black, the demons keeping their distance. This wasn't a shock, there wasn't many demons left from the first manifestation of Harbinger but the Krali Demon have long memories, and an excellent ability to hide. The Krali fanned away from The First as he progressed down their main street, stepping away like a sail billowing out in a light wind. It didn't take The First long to find where he was looking for as he arrived on the steps of the makeshift cathedral which overshadowed every other building.

The interior of the cathedral was a mish-mash of public buildings and what was left of some of the more expensive houses. In its centre a raised chair had been assembled, a clear sign to anyone who looked at it that the person sitting at it was to be noticed. The person sitting on it right now had been noticed and The First made a point of telling the Krali that by dispatching the three approaching guards with several well placed strikes.

"Abomination!" The demon bellowed as The First, "Harbinger holds no worth in house!"

"Well, give me a minute; I think I can swing that around for you Great Gaizki." The First replied

"Harbinger is not great power," Great Gaizki emitted several angry clicking sounds from its mouth as it skittered down to meet him eye to eye. It stood taller then the others, a thick mossy growth coating its torso and thorax. On its head sat an object that resembled a Loral wreath if it were made out of stop signs, "Harbinger human flesh and bone, Harbinger will end like ended before, Harbinger join Krali bone yard."

The First held its disinterested air as it looked at the pile of human bones that sat to the right of the raised chair.

"No doubt, but not right now," He turned back to Great Gaizki, "Look beneath the eyes Great Gaizki."

Great Gaizki leaned in, studying the burning black of his pupils. As if struck by some unseen force it reeled away from Harbinger.

"Demon Father!"

"Word on the beat says you picked up a trinket in your eons of travel. I've come to collect."

"What of you speak?" Great Gaizki managed to regain its voice

The First approached and tapped the adornments wrapped around Great Gaizki's torso.

"No!" The courage returned and Great Gaizki stared down indignantly, "He was our Besting, No!"

"I don't come with an empty offer Great Gaizki, I want to negotiate."

"Harbinger offer what would?"

"First pick of the surface in the new world and your way with the survivors. Think this through Great Gaizki," The First counted shone a winning smile, "no more underground living, you can be up top in the warm sun and the finest buffet humanity has to offer."

"No! Our land be this, our land be no other! Bones stay with Krali, Demon Father Leave house!"

The First shook his head

"That's not a smart business plan, you push me out now and all you get is the supplementary prize. This does involve killing you and everyone I see in a twenty mile radius"

"No! Demon Father leave house!"

The orchestra of the many Krali Demon stepping into the shafts of light surrounded him. The First gripped the blade tighter. The first Krali struck out with it's pincer but he twisted slicing it from its arm. The ebony flame in his eyes burst stronger as a ring of fire encircled the blade. He tossed it, the blade flying at break-neck speed. Before Great Gaizki had time to prepare it hit with explosive force. The blade buried deep and a pressure built up inside it. Great Gaizki ballooned out in an unhealthy manner, its hard shell cracking, before it exploded sending an ocean of fire out in all directions. No Krali was spared, the flaming shockwave passed over the town leaving nothing in its path intact. As it was before the Krali called it home, The Sunnydale crater returned to a lifeless state with the exception of one being. The First dusted off its shoulders and moved to what used to be the chair. He collected the skeleton that used to be worn by the Great Gaizki and placed them in the sack he brought with him.

He felt the hum of pure magic that lived inside the dead marrow.

The bones of the first Harbinger still had life in them yet.

_**Apartment, Guinn's florist, Cleveland Ohio**_

Tisha kept her distance.

This was a dream, sure, but spending as much time around Aurora had made her wary despite the civil presence she was displaying right now. Aurora palmed the Rocent text like it was scrap she found on the street.

"You walk a dangerous line Tisha," Aurora said gently palming the paper, "Your mother understood the perils of the path."

"Yeah, well, Mom tried to kill me so I kinda stopped listening after that." Tisha replied

Aurora looked to Tisha with an aura of unconditional sympathy. She walked over to her and knelt down, meeting her eye line

"You think I am so evil when all I wanted was a world where you and the Acolytes would live safe."

"That right?" Tisha asked, "Why's that again?"

"Because you suffer," Aurora took Tisha's hands in hers and explained, "You take Abigail's betrayal personally and think it is your goal to heal her. This is leading you into the heart of the oncoming storm. Tisha, this search for Rocent will lead to nothing but pain and death."

Tisha looked at her with a sly grin

"What's up Aurora? Scared of what I might find?"

"I know what will be found child and it is not the light of salvation. You are still young, and yet to master what it means to be an Acolyte. Throwing yourself aside so carelessly will not help your people."

"Like the ten thousand you did?" There's not much that startles a higher being but that single line from Tisha gave her pause. That pause gave Tisha power, "Diviner, remember? The stone box showed me the girl talk you shared on that ridge; she didn't think that was a brainy move either, not that I needed her to…"

"I will forgive her." Aurora's voice became softer, more motherly. It was Tisha's turn to pause. Despite her best effort a flicker of hope burned in her, "If saving her means more then your own life, I will forgive Abigail and return her to you body and soul. The only ask that you leave this foolishness behind."

"Just like that?" Tisha's defences snapped straight up

"To save you, I would bend time and space."

Tisha felt Aurora grip her hands tighter. Her eyes never wavered, never forced; Aurora searched her expression like a mother looking for a child. She felt the brief flash of hope leaped inside but she brought it back into line.

"What would I need to do?" She asked

Aurora moved aside and she looked back to the table. A flash of light filled the far corner and the pages burst into flame.

"Leave the past where it is and move on."

Tisha looked at her. Both sides of her mind were at war. Tisha couldn't ignore the past, but at the same time, she couldn't pass an opportunity to help Abigail, even if it's the thinnest of slivers. Out of the corner of her eye Tisha caught movement. She looked to the doorway in time to see a shadow slip away. A sudden gust of wind blew from nowhere and buffered them both. The fire dimmed behind them behind them before it completely extinguished. Suddenly, there was a rush to her left. Tisha turned to where Aurora was only to find empty space. She jumped slightly as she was pulled from her sleep.

Tisha became aware of the arm across her stomach and Abigail resting on her mattress, her arm around Tisha. She was so warn out from getting Tisha to bed she never made it back to her own. Gently Tisha slipped from under her arm and walked out into the lounge. She went back to her desk and looked down at the pages of the Rocent text, conflicted.

On match and she could have Abigail back, alive. She looked up to Tommy first drawing of the devil lady which made her question the price. Tisha dropped down into the chair unsure of her next Acton. It only took the slightest brush of the pages to send her back to that ledge, to the argument between Aurora and Rocent. Tisha settled down on a rock nearby and studied this scene carefully. Aurora painted her as unstable so why was she feeling the opposite?

_**Warehouse complex, Glasgow, Scotland**_

They performed the ritual like they've done a hundred times before. In the heart of the recently vacated furniture warehouse two dozen Kevlar clad men stood over a long table, each of them checking individual sub-machine guns, modified, rapid-fire, tranq rifles strapped to their side. At the head of the table Riley looked off into space, his mind bouncing between strategy and thought of his wife. He locked a clip into his MP-5 and turned to his men. As a unit they snapped to attention.

"This is not an order," Riley started, "I am not your commanding officer, we are not here representing the OIC. The best I can offer you is a request for help to catch a murder. If you feel that this is goes too far beyond your commitment to the defence of your country then there's a plane ticket waiting back at the hotel for you and I will not think the less of you for taking it. If you are willing to help me then we will have our chance to bring this monster into the light of day. Will you help me?"

He didn't have to wait long. The solder who answered looked barely twenty with deep tanned skin and dark hair. He only said one thing that's was all that needed to be said.

"She took one of us sir."

Riley nodded. He slung he rifle over his shoulder and slipped on his tactical mask. The vans left twenty minutes later, heading in the direction of the highlands. By the time they reached the parameter of the detention facility the last of the days light faded over the hills. They concealed the vans behind some scrub to the east of the building and loaded up the gear they needed, heading out on foot for the next part.

The Slayer Detention Facility was housed in one of the old Scottish castles. it was a fairly squared off structure with four raised turrets giving the look out on each of the main corners a perfect three hundred and sixty degree view. Below that was a series of battlements which gave the slayers a perfect defendable point to attack any approaching force. From one of his pouches Riley pulled a PDA and double checked the satellite image. He turned to his men.

"Our entry point is the east wall, the terrain on that side is thick grass, easy concealment," he turned to a couple of soldiers to his right, "Barns, Kellerman, take a couple of men with you and scout ahead, disable any motion track you find down there. One the area's secured signal back."

"What about mystical defences sir?" Barns enquired

"This facility is remote and hard to get too by car," Riley replied, "The Slayers primary concern is their captives and HST defence. I don't think they're expecting a human assault force, that might work in our favour but I can't guarantee that. Keep your eye on your six at all times."

The advanced teams worked fast. They detected and disabled a number ground based motion sensors before the rest of the assault team was called to the advance position. All stayed motionless as they tracked the movements of the battlement guards. After thirty minutes they found a gap in the pattern. They took their moment; grapple hooks flying silently up the length of the wall until they found their mark. They balanced over the edge as two guards walked passed. The pair of slayers had little warning as the two dozen pulled up onto the battlements, dosing them up with Plan B. this disorientation is all the team required. The sudden dip in power threw the girls off balance. Riley and Barns moved in, detaining them. It didn't take long for the pair to be coerced into playing guides.

Sophie walked on autopilot. She glided next to he father like cocker spaniel at a dog show, waiting for the on come lecture form Warden Hollister which she knew was coming. So far she has skirted through every version she can think of from 'disgrace to the family name' right down to 'accidental conception'. When they finally arrived back at their quarters she was about ready to hear her father suggest she be behead in front of the whole council when he turned to face her. Sophie tensed

"Sophie…" Warden Hollister started

"I know, you don't need to say it, I lost sight of the evidence and nearly released a monster-"

"Good work."

Sophie froze. This didn't sound like his brand of hostile sarcasm. Warden Hollister rested his strong hand on her shoulder

"Just because evidence was dismissed doesn't necessarily mean it's false. We're in the business of impossible things and we have to keep vigil, now, if you could apply this to your studies we might see a marked improvement," he explained. Warden Hollister's cell chirped to life and he answered promptly. When he was done his attention returned to her, "Security needs my attention. We'll talk about this later."

Sophie nodded politely before wasting no time in making herself scarce. For some reason her father was in a good mood. She didn't want to tempt the fates any further.

_**Security Office, Slayer Detention Facility, Scotland**_

"Alright Samantha what is the emergency."

Warden Hollister wasted no time. After the grilling Gabrielle received earlier that day he half expected another escape attempt from her like the last few times they'd seen her interpretation of 'cooperating with the council'. Samantha, The slayer on watch, remained silent her eyes screaming at him to leave. That was the only warning he received as Warden Hollister manhandled from behind and forced against the back wall, a strong arm across his chest pinning him firmly.

"That would be us" Riley replied

If Warden Hollister was nervous his face never displayed it. Coolly, He studied the soldiers with an inquisitive eye. 

"Americans," he replied, "I have to admit this is some what of a surprise."

"Gabrielle Blake" Riley wasn't in a small talk mode

"What about her."

"You're going to hand her over to us."

"And what possible motivation would I have to do that?"

"Because I asked nicely"

Warden Hollister raised and eyebrow. "I don't remember hearing a please in that sentence."

"Alright," Riley replied. Warden Hollister felt something at his neck, "How about we go with the gun I have on your throat followed by clear instructions to your people about transferring your prisoner."

The radio Riley liberated from one of the battlement guards crackled to life.

"Infiltrator alert," The slayer announced, "Security to the front entrance!"

Samantha was about to make a move for the controls when Barns jabbed his mp5 into her ribs. He looked over to Riley who gestured to the girl. Barns stepped back and Samantha set the displays to show the front entrance.

It was nothing short of pandemonium. Two thirds of the exercise yard and main walkway were filled to the brim with security, all of whom had their focus on the quintet who stood firm by the gaping hole. The main group consisted of three people, a red-head girl flanked by a dark skinned girl and guy who shielded Gabrielle Blake from the masses. The red-head had a knife on the neck of a young blond who struggled against the grip she had around her waist as best she could. Riley studied the features of the red-head and reeled.

"No" he double-checked what he saw, "What the hell is she doing here?"

Warden Hollister didn't notice, his focus was strictly on the blond

"Oh my lord, they have my Daughter!" Warden Hollister exclaimed. He struggled free from Riley grip and snatched the radio from his hand, "This is Warden Hollister what the hell is going on down there!"

"I-I can't explain it sir," The Slayer replied in a strained tone, "One of the girls… It looked like some kind of magic."

"Impossible, we have anti-magic barriers to prevent that."

"I don't know what to…" The girl stopped short

From the security office it wasn't clear what happened. From what they could pick up the three kidnappers seemed very unsure of their actions, tense words flying between them. Then suddenly the dark skinned girl lifted her machete and three charms began to glow brighter. The grounds began to shake. Something large enough to blot out the moon rushed towards the battlements at alarming speed. The cameras went dark and all that could be heard was screaming.

_**Motel – 5 hours later**_

Xander wasn't sure if she was dead or dreaming.

After a few hours she'd finally returned to the world of the conscious. The first thing that got his attention was the feeling of warmth and softness, particularly from the blanket that was draped over her. Cautiously she uncurled herself from the foetal ball Xander had clasped into and stretched out, felling the tug on the bandages that covered her arms and back. Slowly, suspiciously, she opened her eyelids and caught the first view of the soft white glow of the bedside lamp which bounced off the decorative rose wall paper of the bedroom. Her eyes snapped shut immediately. If this was a dream she didn't want to leave it. Xander buried her head deeper into the inviting pillow.

"Chica?" The male voice held a Spanish like accent that Xander didn't recognise, "hey, you with us?"

Xander opened his eyes and saw him. A thin looking tan coloured man with short dark hair and small brown eyes sitting in a chair in the far corner. All sense of fatigue evaporated from Xander. In one deft motion she tossed slipped from the bed and into the opposite corner balling herself up so tightly she nearly she could've rolled away. The male was on his feet in a second, his uncertain motions looking more panicked then focused. He tried to placate her but Xander responded by throwing a lamp at him, the porcelain base missing him by inches before smashing against the wall. The door to the bedroom shot open with force. Xander found himself staring at an impossible vision. A vision that glared at the stranger in the corner

"What did you do?" the red haired girl snapped

"Nothing, I was watching, that's it!"

"With your eyes?"

The man rolled his eyes

"Okay, I did that one time Red, and I said sorry."

"Go tell Shay he's," The vision looked back to Xander, "She's awake."

The man looked from Xander to the vision

"Buena suerte" he said before he disappeared through the door.

Xander huddled behind the bed side table and the vision scampered around. She sat crossed legged in front of Xander same red hair framing those same worried green eyes, every one of her feature a calming element to her.

"It's okay, your safe" She said. Xander huddled further into the corner and turned her head away. All she wanted those green eyes to stop looking at her. The vision saw her response and moved back a couple of inches, "Don't worry Xander we're gonna set this right."

Hearing her real name was like a shock from the cattle prod. Xander snapped his hear around, all senses focused on the girl sitting across from her, probing for even the slightest hint of a lie. What she got in return was a warm smile and a gentle stroke of the hair. Xander's mind immediately rebelled against this concept. She slapped Helain's hands away and turned away and turned her.

"No, I'm really here," Desperation replaced calm, "I'm really in front of you."

"Try again. She's in a hospital right now!" Xander snapped viciously

"I was, now I'm here."

Xander glared over her shoulder "I said try again!"

The vision was at a loss. She looked around to the room for something to help her explain the situation but the motel really wasn't set up for that. Then something leaped into her mind, something she knew would work. Without waiting for an invitation she took her by the shoulder. The vision forced Xander to look into her eyes.

"Look through the moment Xander and tell me watch you see."

Xander studied her determined face, her hair, and those green eyes that would not leave her. Through the maelstrom of doubt in her mind reality finally took root. Xander let out a small gasp as she saw the vision for who it was.

"Helain?" Xander's voice was so quietly that the both of them strained to here it.

"Yeah" Helain replied in relief

Xander held no such feelings. Slowly, turned back to face her

"How?"

Helain had to laugh at this.

"That's kind of a long story."


End file.
